DAILY POST
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cautioned Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries over the risks of close economic ties with China.
The warning, issued in the latest IMF Regional Economic Outlook on Sub-Saharan Africa, is coming amid reports that Nigeria’s debt to China had risen to $4.73 billion as of June 30, 2023.
Data on Nigeria’s external debt profile from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that the country’s debt to China increased by $800 million in one year, from $3.93 billion as of June 30, 2022, to $4.73 billion as of June 30, 2023.
The debt involves concessionary loans that the Nigerian government obtained to finance the execution of infrastructural projects ranging from power generation, railways, water supply, airport terminals, agricultural processing and communication.
Projects being executed with Chinese loans include the Nigerian National Public Security Communication System project, Wu-Kaduna section of the railway modernisation project, Abuja light rail project, Nigerian Information and Communication Technology infrastructure backbone project, Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Rivers airport terminals’ expansion project, Zungeru hydroelectric power project, 40-parboiled rice processing plants project, Lagos–Ibadan section of the railway modernisation project, and rehabilitation/upgrading of the Abuja-Keffi-Markurdi road project.
